Delaware Water Gap 
Lyrics 



(Mt. Minsi Edition) 



BY 



CHARLES K. MESCHTER 



Bethlehem, Pa. 



QUINLIN PRINTING COMPAN"! 
SOUTH BETHLEHEM. PA. 



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Copyright, 19:3 

by 

CHARLES K. MESCHTER 

Published March, 1913 



©C1.A343753 



Inscribed 

to all persons 

who have been aroused 

by the majesty of Mount Minsi 

and the delicate beauty of 

Caldeno Falls 



The Lure of Mt. Minsi .... 4 

Caldeno Falls .5 

Diana's Bath 8 

Beside a Tarn 10 

The Promontory 12 

Drifting at the Delaware Water Gap . 14 



®I|p aj«« nf Mi. Jitnat 

Like furious swashing swaying seas 

Mt. Minsi's winds sing symphonies. 

There chastened air clears mind for truth 

And charges Hmbs with vim of youth; 

With heart forever like the dawn 

There I shall wander on and on; 

Through shrouding mist, o'er threatening scar, 

I'll climb the trail whose end 's a star. 

To quell the riot in my breast 
I must heed Minsi's loud behest! 



In a covert cool and dim 

O'er which trees both great and grim 

Lean with limb entwined in limb; 

In this dank and darkling dell 

Like a cave where monk doth dwell. 

Thinking that his soul is well; 

Mountain waters gently play- 
On their leaf-hid winding way. 
Dashing into softest spray. 



To the tinkling water's brink 
Downy mosses creep to drink 
While their sleepy wee eyes blink. 

Timid flowerets here and there 

Tremble in the chilly air 

That doth lift their gossamer hair. 

Now and then the whir of wings 
Brings a mountain bird that sings 
Rarely, to his bardic springs. 



Where I see her waters fall, 
Where I hear her liquid brawl, 
I 'm Caldeno's willing thrall. 



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Where the straight tall evergreens 
Make a veil which daylight screens 
Where the rhododendron bloom 
Fills the air with its perfume, 
In this scented deepened shade 
Leaps Caldeno's clear cascade. 

At its base, enclosed in fern. 
This rill grows a spacious urn; 
Clear and cool its waters are. 
Flashing like a lovely star; 
Here hid from the mountain path 
Is far-famed Diana's Bath. 



Where the light is afterglow. 
Where the moss is soft like snow. 
Here, 'tis whispered, is the place 
Haunted by that classic grace. 
Here within the favored tide 
Laves the immortal starry-eyed. 



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Where the mountain-ridge looms high, 
Where the large boughs brush the sky. 
Where the wanderer must grope 
His trail up the wooded slope. 
Where untainted winds distill 
Vigor on the weary will. 
There hemmed in by tree and brake 
Is a placid sapphire lake. 

Like a gem of brightest sheen 
Lies this tarn encased in green: 
In its clearness all the day 
Dextrous fish flash round in play. 



10 



Or are poised in perfect grace 
In their lonely watery place. 
And to loiterers impart 
Knowledge of their swimming art. 

Here beside the lakelet's calm 
Where glad breezes drop their balm. 
Here beneath the splendid star 
Where the cunning fishes are. 
Here hid in this mountain spot 
Where the busy world is not, 
Here man must forget his care 
And his soul ascend in prayer. 



11 



Where the cloud-mass drifts 

And spins and shifts 
The huge sheer wall of rock uplifts; 

There the eagle wheels 

When thunder peals; 
And there man's mind is awed and reels. 

Far 'neath cliff and pine 

The waters shine 
A long and narrow tortuous line; 

In his fragile boat 

Man so remote 
Is but a feeble fay afloat. 



12 



Then the eye surveys 

The glorious maze 
Of vale and peaks and sky and haze; 

To the utmost goal 

A boundless shoal 
Of mountain billows lift and roll. 



13 



irifting at t\\t i^lamar^ 
later ^ap 



The sun goes down! 

Mt. Minsi's crown 
Flames into purple, gold, and brown: 

Ten-thousand notes 

Trill from the throats 
Of vesper birds as my skiff floats. 

In passing by 

The dizzy eye 
Beholds peaks vanish in the sky: 

Then in romance 

Bursts the expanse 
Beyond the cliffs as I advance. 



14 



Daylight has sped. 

And overhead 
A single star peeps from the dead: 

And evermore 

From shore to shore 
Drifts my canoe as Hfe were o'er. 



15 



I *m going where my soul has rest, 
I *m going where my soul gets zest! 



PR 3 1313 




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